Things I don't understand about modern life

[niadainud]

1. What "speaking to" means. I know it is a stage in the dating process, but have no idea as to its specific implications.

2. The point of "link in bio" - why can't you just put the bloody link where I can see it without having to hunt for it?

3. Gender-woo nonsense. When will the madness end?

4. Why it seems to be socially acceptable to use your phone to play videos or make calls without headphones, especially on on the bus. STFU!

5. Talking of buses, why they can so rarely take you from point A to point B without terminating prematurely, stopping to "regulate the service" or stopping to change driver. I'm sure it never used to be this bad.

Why is everything a “flex “?

Also I pay for Prime, Netflix, Disney and Sky but the film I want ro watch alaways costs extra.

It seems that dating has changed
my stepson is ‘speaking to ‘ a girl. It means they’re getting to know each other - I think
I suspect they’re having sex ( both 21) but both are adamant they’re not ‘seeing each other’
as I understand it the ‘speaking to’ bit is to see if they want to be bf/ gf.

But ‘seeing each other’ implies a level of commitment apparently neither want that

im my day you met a lad you went out then you were official.- sex probably happened much later when there was a hint of commitment.

This is what confused me. I can understand "speaking to" to mean texting etc. before meeting (if you're using OLD), but if it means having sex but not yet in a relationship then it's actually a euphemism, as there's a lot more than "speaking" going on. But then I guess "seeing" is euphemistic too.

I don't understand when you press the back button on a web page and it asks whether you want to "save or cancel the form"

Eh? I just want to go back to the previous page

Who writes these things?

I'm in this predicament now, and I'm 33! It's so confusing.

Who knows what we actually are at this point.

Of course it’s ok to comfort a small child! I didn’t say it wasn’t. But routinely carrying a school age child into school seems unnecessary to me. I agree with a PP that suggested there is a correlation between the children being carried and the ones who can’t put their own coat on etc.

But on the same note, the price of Richard Osman's ebook is £12.99 for kindle or £11 for a hardcover from amazon? How does Amazon get away with charging so much for the non-physical version, especially as no one has to physically hustle around a massive warehouse and pack up the actual book and there's £0.00 postage? I'd never pay that much for an ebook.

No one ever has to justify charging what they want to charge. It's basic economics of supply and demand. If people are happy to pay that kind of money for an e-book, it's their prerogative, if they're not, no one is forcing them to buy it. Just like everything really. If people weren't buying it, then Amazon would reduce their prices. Clearly some people are happy to pay a premium for the convenience of being able to read an e-book immediately and wherever they are, as opposed to having to wait for a physical book to be delivered and then having to carry it around to read it. The actual cost of something is not usually an indicator of the selling price - it's all about how much someone is willing to pay for it.

When talking about colours of clothes, people use the term Colourway instead of just Colour

I don't understand why people add unnecessary words to things. I'm all about time management!

"Shop the look"

"Accentuate with a red lip and a hint of blush"

I've even seen, "a slim trouser"

When did people stop feeling hopeful and instead feel cautiously optimistic...

I heard a new one this week about 'holding space'. Something to do with making a connection but I genuinely don't get it.

Sometimes my son just needs a close connection when I pick him up (literally) from school

Re carrying children to school that's not ok unless it's a very one off occasion and a child is particularly upset. Doing things for a child when they are capable is just another way of saying 'I think you are too stupid and incompetent' and is really damaging to their self esteem. If their legs are tired from walking a short distance then they should be seeking medical care as this isnt normal. I work with kids age 3 to 5 and not one of them get carried in. A few years ago one child was asking to be carried and my colleague told him if he wanted to act like a baby he should go to the baby room instead. He was suddenly able to use his legs and ran around happily for rest of the year.

It's better than them not going. I wouldn't have carried mine- in any case he's huge, but I think its sweet if parents want to connect with their kids in that way and it gets them to school.

Covid?

I don't like that it's ok to sit there using a mobile phone whilst people are talking to you - including your kids. We wouldn't have just grabbed a book would we?!

Yes, same here!

Some of my friends carried their kids' bags, and a few times I walked these kids to or from school. One would just chuck his bag on the ground and run off, leaving his mum to pick it up. No chance of that with me, I'm not a slave. I made him come back and get it. The other did struggle a bit with her bag, mainly because her mum routinely packed for a week away rather than a walk to school - big umbrella, whatever the weather, water bottle (fine, but did she really have to stop and get it out for a drink during every 15 minute walk?), all sorts of crap. But a) their decision to pack all this stuff, not mine, and b) I certainly wasn't going to carry this bag when I expected my own kids to carry theirs.

Not had sex yet in a nutshell.

Seeing someone once you've snagged.

I was reading that the algorithms now use the cookies on each device to determine how much each user would be willing to pay for things on Amazon. Always worth checking the price elsewhere too for this reason.

I argue it was when I stopped being hopeful and I agree with PP that COVID probably had something to do with it.

I’m sorry to hear that, but that kind of exception has always existed and is clearly not what I’m referring to. Stand outside some infant schools at home time now and you will see significant numbers of children being literally picked up and carried (to the car) as if they were about two years old. This is not about making the child feel better, this is satisfying some need of the parent. I don’t know what that is.

This is a bizarre reading of the situation. ‘It’s better than them not going?’ If a child is refusing to go to school because you aren’t carrying them in, you’ve got different problems. As I said, this is a parent thing and not a child thing. Parents are picking their children up physically and carrying them out of the playground. I love children, I loved teaching them, I haven’t been a harsh parent, but I would really question the way some parents seem to be actively holding their children back from achieving those little gradual steps of independence as they get older. Children like to be develop their independence and it’s what they’re programmed to do. It doesn’t mean parents withholding affection or comfort.

Is that modern?

1. What "speaking to" means. I know it is a stage in the dating process, but have no idea as to its specific implications.

It means, in the language of my youth, you're "seeing" someone. I.e. you have a casual thing going on, you might snog each other (you might not) you might even shag, but it's not exclusive or serious.

My mum couldn't get her head round that in the day either . Just another way of saying casually dating I guess!